CONSOB has notified the ESMA, the European Securities and Markets Authority, of its compliance with the guidelines published by the Authority on November 6 on its website, in the official translation into Italian, called ‘Guidelines on certain aspects of the MiFID II suitability requirements' (‘Guidelines'), integrating them as part of its supervisory practice (Notice of November 29, 2018). The Guidelines were adopted by the European authorities pursuant to article 16 of Regulation no. 1095/2010/EU (‘ESMA Regulation'), on May 28, 2018.

The Guidelines are also available in Italian (together with the full text of the ‘Final Report' in English) on CONSOB's institutional website.

They provide the operational guidelines regarding the obligation required by MiFID Directive II (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) for intermediaries to provide personalized recommendations as part of an advisory service or to make investment/disinvestment decisions in the execution of a mandate to manage portfolios that must prove genuinely suitable, having regard to the characteristics of the customers served and the specific nature of the products.

With effect from March 8, 2019, intermediaries subject to CONSOB supervision will be obliged to comply with the interpretative guidelines issued by the European authorities through the Guidelines and, at the same time, the previous Guidelines issued by the ESMA in July 2012 within the regulatory framework of the previous MiFID I shall cease to apply.